Ledger.



1-". H. SMITH. LEDGBR. APPLICATION rnnn 1130.9,1901.

91 6,047 Patented Mar. 23, 1909.

NOVEMBER SEPTEMBER W' hesses: I fnvcnf-ar: A. 721%. P

MQQ A u, n. 'c. THE NORRIS PETERS cm, WASHINGTO FRANK SMITH, OF PORTLAND, OREGON.

LEDGEB.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Iilarch 23, 1909.

Application filed December 9, 1907. Serial No. 405,703.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that l, FRANK H. SMITH, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of Portland, county of Multnomah, and State of Oregon, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ledger's, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to ledgers, and more particularly to what I have chosen to call a perpetual ledger. r

The object of my invention is to provide a ledger for use by book-keepers and those whose business it is to keep accounts, which ,shall be substantially a perpetual ledger, and

which, by reason of its construction and arrangement, will eliminate the necessity of opening up a new ledger every year or term of years, with the accompanying task of transferring a long list of names from the old to the new ledger, as under the present method; to provide a ledger of the character referred to adapted to be used in a loose leaf binder; to provide a ledger of the character referred to in which long and short leaves are used, the long leaves being adapted to receive the names, under the present showing, and constituting the perpetual feature of the invention, and the short leaves being adapted to receive the account items, and both long and short leaves being so marked that they can be readily identified in pairs and in the order used after the shorter item leaves have been filled and transferred to a permanent binder to provide in a ledger of the character referred to such an arrangement that the items of account to be entered will always be entered in columns not far removed from the name to which they belong, thus guarding against the making of mistakes in entering the items upon lines and after names other thanthe ones to which they belong; to provide a ledger of the character referred to which does away with the index and also with the necessity of entering the index folio upon the original entry; and in general, to

provide a perpetual ledger of the character referred to which is practicable, economical and a work-saver.

My invention will be readily understood from the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which is shown companion sheets A and B, showing one embodiment of the invention, portions of said sheets being broken out in order to show a larger view thereof, and the lower edge of sheet B being broken away to place.

show more clearly the relative arrangement of each.

Referring to the drawings, sheetA constitutes what we may call the name sheet, or the perpetual feature of the invention. In this embodiment sheet A is the long sheet of the pair and is ruled horizontally only. The lines are numbered in groups of five, thus making it easy to determine at a glance the number of the line upon which a name is written. It will be understood, of course, that the lines could be numbered consecutively or otherwise, if'desired and the same result of providing a method of determining the location of a name written thereupon, obtained. Sheet A is substantially the same size as would be the binder in which it is to be used, though of course it need be only long enough to contain the names to be entered thereon.

Sheet B constitutes what we may call the item sheet and is shown to be shorter than sheet A in order to permit of the readin of names entered upon sheet A, which, it wil be noted, appear immediately to the left of sheet B in order that names written on sheet A, and items written on sheet B may be read at one and the same time. For example, the name of John Argo is entered upon line 1 of sheet A and his address is entered upon line 2, although the address might immediately follow the name upon the same line, if desired. Items for John Argo would be entered on line 1 of the item sheet, in the proper columns and the account read just the same as if entered entirely upon a single sheet.

Sheet B is ruled horizontally on each side to correspond with the ruling of sheet A and the lines are similarly numbered. Sheet B is also ruled vertically on each side to provide the necessary vertical columns, which may be arranged as desired, the present showing being provided with their general or monthly columns to each side of sheet B, and these columnssub-divided as desired.

Sheet B, or the item sheet, is adapted to be inserted in the binder next above sheetA and is also adapted to be reversed from one side to the other, and to this end it is provided with the necessary edge perforationsl at each side for attachment in the binder.

When both sides of the sheet B have been filled iti's then removed to the permanent binder and another sheet B containing the next succeedmg SlX months,1s mserted in its p more difficult for It is customary in most accounts to enter in the ledger only totals. It would, therefore, only require one line to each name. If it is desired to enter other than totals then there must be as many lines left on sheet A imtom, the reverse side would always be upside as are required mediately following the name on sheet B for the ltems to be entered. The names will preferably be entered upon sheet A in alphabetical order and as many sheets used for each letter of the alphabet as may be required, additional sheets being added as necessary. The name sheets thus become the permanent entry sheet in the ledger for the names entered thereon so long as they do business with the company or firm. W hen sheet B has been used up, it is removed to the permanent binder and in order that sheet B may be readily identified as the one used with 1 a particular sheet A, both sheets A and B are provided with corresponding identification marks or numbers, as for example, 1 in the upper left hand corner of the first sheet containing the names commencing with A.

hen a second sheet for names commencing i with A is required, the identification mark for both the name sheet and the item sheet used with it would be 2 and so on indefinitely. The indentification mark for sheets containing names commencing with B would be 1 2 and so on indefinitely for as many sheets as are required for names commencin with B, the identification mark being placed on both the name sheet and the item sheet used therewith. lVhen'one item sheet is filled and filed away, if it is ever desired to refer to it, it is only necessary to refer to the permanent file in which are filed the item sheets containing the identification marks 1, 2 or 1 as the case may be, and. the account or item will be found upon the corresponding horizontal line as is the name of the account referred to. It will thus be understood that when the names are once entered upon a name sheet, they need never be transferred, for all that is necessary to continue the account indefinitely is to supply item sheets containing the successive m onths, year after year.

The item sheets B are preferably arranged with only three monthly columns on. each side, and when one side has been filled, the item sheet reversed in the binder and the opposite side containing the next three months used. In order that the item sheet may be reversed from left to right, it is provided with binder perforations Z at both side edges. The perforations are, therefore, shown on the loose or free edge of the sheet. This, however, is found not to be an objection. or to make the turning or handling of the sheet the reason that the item sheet need never be turned except when hesi e i? ing reversed in the binder, or when being turned over in the book with sheet A. l f the item sheet were perforated only at one side and the sheet reversed from top to botdown and if it was desired. afterward to refer to any items on the opposite side for, say a preceding month, it would be very incon venient for the reason. that the items would be up-side-down and. also removed. from hori Zontal alineinent with. the name or names to which they belonged.

I prefer to use only three months to a page and thus avoid the necessity of entering items in columns so far ren'ioved from the names as to make mistakes more easily possible. By using sheets of this (atpacity, the entries can all be made on the left side of the open book, or to the left of the bindingedges of the sheets A and B, which, in the drawings, are the extreme right edges, shown to be in register with each other.

From the above description it will be understood that the work of transferring names from one ledger to another is eliminated, and while I have here shown and lescribed only one embodiment of the in vention, it is evident that modi'lications (an be made without dc )arting from the spirit of the invention and I do not therefore, limit the invention to the specific shmving made in the drawings.

I claim:

1.. In a perpetual ledger, the (mnibination with a loose-leaf binder, of a long sheet and a reversible short sheet resting upon the long sheet, when in use, with the free edge thereof extending over the long sheet, leaving ex posed a portion of said long sheet, said short sheet being provided with means upon its two vertical edges to adapt them for insertion. in the binder, whereby said short sheet may be reversed in the binder without being inverted, substantially as described.

2. In a perpetual ledger, the combination with a loose-leaf binder, of a long sheet horizontally ruled, and a reversible sheet horizontally and vertically ruled on both sides, said reversible sheet resting upon the long sheet when in use, with the free edge thereof extending over the long sheet leaving ex.- poscd a portion of said long sheet, said. r0- versible sheet being provided with means upon its vertical edges to adapt them for insortion in the binder, whereby said short FRANK ll. SMl'llI. Vitnesses:

LUTHER D. MAi-ioxn W. A. ROBBINS.

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